


Lucky Son of a Gun

by AndeliaMaddock



Series: Rigging the Odds [6]
Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Death, M/M, Never - Freeform, Sex, Violence, i would use the just dudes being dudes tag but this isnt really the place anymore, im sure its fine would i a writer lie to you, listen listen it might not be what youre thinking ok, macguffin abuse, shit just got real, yeah character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 21:47:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10705785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndeliaMaddock/pseuds/AndeliaMaddock
Summary: "Novac is a no for me.""Benny.""No, no, see, I was with you up until you said Novac. Ex Great Khan working the dino, gun through the teeth, ready to put a bullet through mine? Not my idea of a hello, how're ya doin', ya dig?""So we time it to get there at night, when Boone's on shift.""Oh, baby baldy, right? Manny had plenty to yap about that one. More about the dame who up and left, though."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I would say that reading the other parts isn't really necessary to get this one, but that's a bit of a lie for this one. Still, context is: Benny and Courier agree to work together to get the chip, that got accidentally taken by Major Knight during a New Vegas tryst with Benny. Unfortunately, Knight got captured by a certain very evil character, and the chip taken even further away from the Courier.
> 
> Benny and Courier do their damnedest to find Knight. They've both got clearly different ideals and goals.

"Novac is a no for me."

"Benny."

"No, no, see, I was with you up until you said Novac. Ex Great Khan working the dino, gun through the teeth, ready to put a bullet through mine? Not my idea of a hello, how're ya doin', ya dig?"

"So we time it to get there at night, when Boone's on shift."

"Oh, baby baldy, right? Manny had plenty to yap about that one. More about the dame who up and left, though."

Courier crossed his arms, and arched a brow.

"That, I'm willing to bet, is your cue that you like the cue ball. Alright, alright, look. Fine, but how's about I swing just before Novac, and you come find me with answers, right? I can dig that between the two of 'em, one must've seen Knight if he came through."

"You're afraid of a little sniper's nest?"

"Well, color you derisive. Listen, it's not about afraid. It's about, I don't trust someone who can't even come right up, man to man, and shoot me in the head. Head shots from a distance, there's something..." He paused, and for about the thousandth time, remembered just what he'd done. "Hey, but that's the point, you see it? Me, you, sure, I did you wrong. But I did you wrong in person. I carried myself with finesse, with class. Looked you right in the eyes, instead of popping you through a scope. There's something just not right about that. Even Legion'll come up close for their kills." Not that it made it better. He shuddered just a bit.

"Moving. On. How about we go when Boone's on schedule. Anytime after 9 or so, should be."

"Oh, that'll make me safer, I'm sure. But fine, fine, yeah, Pussycat, I see where it's at. Let's just focus on getting through," He pulled in a thick inhale, and wished he hadn't run out of his favorite brand of cigs, "Legion territory."

"It's not all theirs."

"I heard how they went and tore up Nipton. A town of quins, squares, and squatters, but still didn't deserve what it got. Hey, don't look surprised. Even I got a heart, you know it, Baby?"

Courier shook his head. "I'm not... I'm not surprised. Just, remembering."

"What now?" He fumbled through his jacket, searching for what was probably not there. Just one more cigarette, really, he only needed one. Ah, yes! He tugged one half-used cigarette free from his pocket, and quickly went to light it, all while thanking his past self for having the foresight to save the last one. Even if just a bit of it.

"You blew past there real fast. Probably just missed them. But I got to meet some of those soldiers first hand."

The rolled tobacco fell from his hand, and a plume of grey smoke crept up towards him from its spot near his wing-tipped shoes. He blinked. "You what now?"

"I met the one who had it done." They tapped on their Pip-Boy. Tapped harder. Worked their way through the map, going over spots repeatedly. “Vulpes Inculta. You know, the one on the NCR propaganda posters?”

"You really are the toughest sonuvabitch I ever met, I think. And I thought us Chairmen were where it's at. Are you sure you're full human? Maybe you've got some deathclaw or something in you..."

It broke the tension at least, and he met their smile, even pat them on the back. Camaraderie, and all that. At least it'd probably keep this one from shooting him in the face, for a while, if he played nice. "Hope they didn't do too much to you."

"No. I." Back to the hard look, that distant expression far too many Wastelanders in this sick, sad little word had before they tried to drown sorrows in paint thinner liquor.

Courier returned back to his Pip-Boy, and nodded down at the screen. "If we take this path, should be able to avoid the Legion camp. We don't need to stop in at any of the spots they've hit."

He just looked at their face, read their expression. "I'd rather avoid them, yeah. So, good, good. Hey, I wouldn't mind a Pip-Boy myself, if it didn't clash with, well, any style at all. Looks handy though." He clapped their back again, then crouched and picked up the now mostly useless cig. Damn his luck.

Courier glanced from Pip-Boy, down to fallen cigarette. "I might have a few in my bag. I find them around. Want some?"

"My brand?"

"What's that saying, Benny? Something to do with beggars and choosers?"

"Begging is for losers. But I guess I wouldn't mind an off-brand if it meant these digits didn't shake like they're learning to walk."

Courier rummaged with a blank expression. Handed over a pack without even looking Benny in the eyes.

He didn't like that. "Think we could blow past Nipton without having to take a peek? Might be some unsavory sorts inside still. Like Legion."

"I kinda wanna visit it, actually."

"Whoa, you wanna visit that mass grave? Baby, they hit it so hard, I can see the smoke still billowing. Let's not stay long enough for you to put down your roots, right?"

"I just. I have something I want to do, alright? You can stay aside."

"No.” He pointed a finger at them, then back to himself. “You. Me. Partners, remember? Plus, guess you set me straight with that fight from before. No more splitting up."

"I guess."

No more of that happy chatty thing they'd had going for them. Benny almost missed it. Guy had a lot he liked to say, and a lot of quaint little ways of saying it.

Maybe past Nipton, he'd turn that frown around and stop being such a sad sack.

Benny could hope. But for the moment, he just lit the cigarette and held it nice and firm between his lips. Hands still trembled a bit, but that'd fade, sure as he was that the sun rose and set each day.

There were awful things he'd seen in his life. Awful things he'd done.

He shut his eyes. Then he forced them open. He wasn’t a child. He would see this. "Baby." A sad shake to his head.

"Those tires there, they burned. Real high, you could see thick black plumes of smoke for miles. That's why Ghost sent me." A laugh, but it was out of place. Forced, and trembling. Courier inhaled, and seemed to hold that breath in. Finally, he let it out as a sigh, and his shoulders seemed to deflate along with those tense lungs.

It wasn't just tires that burned though. Benny could see bones, charred and held to posts. Despite the flesh and muscles being pulled away, the bones held together for the most part. A raven pecked at something in the dirt nearby. He shut his eyes again. It brought pinpricks to his skin, even beneath the warmth of his suit. It was cold. He shuddered, and tried his best to pull himself together.

Benny stepped closer, and pressed a hand to the small of their back, rubbed it up along the leather of their armor. "Are you sure you wanna walk on in there?"

"I. I wanted to pay my respects."

"You're true blue. But maybe you could do that from here, hey? I’ve seen Fiends do nicer things to places."

"I've seen worse."

"Have you?"

"Inside there."

"Right. So. Let's get back on the trail, leave this place in the dust where it belongs." He broke physical contact, and began to step away. "C'mon, daylight's burning out here."

The Courier waited, just a few more seconds, before he turned, nodded some form of sad agreement, and followed after.

Benny pat them on the back, and kept pace beside them.

A few hours in, Courier wiped some sweat from his brow and stopped to stretch. "Did you go around Novac when you left me sleeping?"

"Huh?" Benny took the time to pull out another cigarette and light that pretty baby.

"You were so freaked about being spotted by Boone or Manny, so you went around, right?"

"Yeah, cut a bit of time out of it. Had the bonus of keeping them from taking a pot shot at my pretty head."

"Heh. Yeah, alright."

"What's the word? How come you wanna know?"

"I just, I tend to stick to the road around these parts. Even mad as I was, I kept to the roads."

"So what?" He dipped a bit of ashes onto the ground and regarded them casually.

"So? Knight told me way back when that he likes seeing what he can of the desert, since he's stuck in his little spot most of his time. Maybe he went off road too. If we don't hear either saw him, we could start looking off the roads."

"Baby, sure, sure. But some of these roads, I wouldn't leave them for a hundred thousand caps, with a dozen armed men, you know how I mean? So let's not get too carried away on that."

"But the ones near Novac?"

"Depends, I guess." He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and watched the end burn a bit, a cherry red in the afternoon sunlight. He flicked his fingers a bit, and another half inch of ash scattered to the dry wind. "Around here, you'd want to know just where you're going. But he's an NCR guy."

"Yeah. Where would a guy like him go?"

"My bets? If he did, and that's an if, he'd go somewhere that he'd know there were other NCR nearby. That is, less East, more West, you feel what I'm laying down?"

They nodded, capped their bottle of water, and started forward once more.

Benny sighed, plopped the cigarette back in between his lips, and just barely faster than a walk caught up. "Hey, hey, how come the 3rd degree now? Something fill that lil head a yours?"

"I'm a bit worried we are going to find him."

"Lay it on me."

"Charlie."

"Who would that be again?"

"Ranger Station Charlie. They were wiped out too. Boone and Manny, neither one knew it. Ranger Andy... This area isn't as safe as people want it to be."

"What area is?"

"The chip. It could help, right? Keep people safe?"

"Right. Exactly. Keep the Strip safe." 

"Not just the Strip. You made it seem like, there's hundreds of robots and they could all help. Right?"

There was a look of the desperate man in those eyes. Benny offered an easy smile, and pulled them back into a side embrace, walked with them at that easy pace once more. "Sure. And I can see it in your face, that's what you'd wanna do. I'll level with you, I wanted to make it just so the Strip was safe, but I can absolutely see that wouldn't be enough.”

They nodded, and kept walking. Followed his subtle lead.  "It feels like nothing will ever be enough."

"Baby, Sweetie, that's just because we haven't finished setting up our play yet, right? If we can get all the cards, in all the right places, the gamble we're gonna make is gonna pay off ten-fold. A thousand-fold! NCR, Legion, Fiends, Khans. Hell, it won't matter."

"The ends still didn't justify the means."

"Are we still on about--"

"It's not just... not just that." There was pain in those eyes.

No, literally, the guy seemed to be pained. Clutched at his head, and took deep, needy breaths. "God."

Benny crouched down in front of their bent form, and tried to look up into their eyes. "Hey, you still with me? Let's get you in the shade, right? Easy does it, no falling now."

He didn't often carry someone. Maybe a dame to bed, past the doorframe into his bedroom on occasion. But there was no real reason otherwise, most of the time. But here, they looked so damn weak, so small. Right there, fallen forward into the dirt. So Benny bent further, lifted them up into his arms, and carried them over to a big rock near the canyon walls, out of sight of the main road. "Easy, easy, you just rest that big dumb head a yours."

"It's... not dumb." But they grinned anyway, limp in his arms, face a bit paler than Benny liked.

"Fine. Pretty. Better?"

"Damn right."

He lay them down real gentle like, and rummaged about into their bag, caught up a bottle of the good stuff. Fresh, pure water. Quick as a light switch, he uncapped it, and pressed it up against their lips. "Now, drink that and stop being all white as a ghost."

They sipped a few swallows, then turned their head away and offered wryly, "Oh, alright, Doctor. With bedside manner like that, how could I do anything different?"

"Jokes aside, you're not gonna keel over, right?"

"I don't think so."

Benny sighed, and slumped down beside them, poured a bit of water into his own mouth, and swished it around a bit. "Is Ranger Station Charlie up this way?"

"Yeah. You've been there?"

"Hell no. But the boys, before we 'parted ways' near Boulder City, told me they'd been past it once or twice. We went right the Hell around it, and everything else along this stretch of road."

"You avoid NCR when you can?"

"Baby, I'd be a fool not to. I might not be a Saint, but like I've said, they're not either. At least I don't pretend to have all the answers, while crushing people beneath my boot and calling it progress."

He nodded. He seemed to understand.

Or maybe it was just the sleep. Could you call it sleep, if it came from head trauma? Benny didn't know. He wasn't a fucking doctor. Though, once or twice he’d played that part in bed with a couple of giggly broads.

What he did know, was he needed to take a smoke break. All this stress, his hands shook a bit more, gave away to no one but himself how much this took a toll on him. He stood, stretched his arms high above his head, and ambled on back towards the main road. He wouldn't be gone, just, walking a bit to ease his nerves.

Benny lit up, and meandered a bit off to the right side of the road. He'd cast a glance back every minute or so, to make sure they were still sleeping where he'd left them. Or, at the very least, to make sure they hadn't gone and stood up, come barreling after him.

There was a bit of a commotion nearby, and he crept closer, attempted to give it a good listen, see what he'd happened upon.

"Please. God, please no." A male voice, low, but it raised in tempo, pitch, and volume by the end of the words. "C'mon man, not that. Just kill me, don't--"

A sharp slap, flesh on flesh. "What do you think happens to fools? To profligates. To slaves who think they have a right to talk back."

Legion.

That was a whole big spot of nope. Benny turned about, and came face to face with a machete. He glanced up, took in that smirking troglodytes expression.

An uneasy smile spread over his face, and he took a step back. "Now, hold on there."

"It would be well to take on another slave, seeing as how these ones have ended their usefulness." The Legion soldier took a step forward.

They liked to be up close, in your face, personal, didn't they? Machetes and throwing knives that only could go so far. Benny could almost respect that, except the way this one closed the distance kept him on edge.

He reached for Maria.

He nearly lost a hand.

Maria out, he took aim, and fired off a panicked shot. Missed, but only because of the shake in his hand. He resolved not to mess it up again, and let out another. Right in the neck, and it would be upsetting how messy that made it, any other time.

He heard a rush, boots, metal rubbed on metal. Voices, they called out.

"Retribution, Baby? Retribute this!" He turned about, to face the charging attackers.

Maybe he'd miscounted, just going by ear, on how many there were. Gunshots were loud, he'd clearly heard wrong. But this? Wasn't just a few. It was easily a dozen, and they all seemed to want a piece of him.

Benny wasn't a slouch with the trigger finger. The one closest, he took out with a well placed bullet right between the eyes. It brought the barest of grins to his face, as he stepped back and took aim at another. Maybe that soldier would actually stay down, as opposed to the last one he'd shot in the head?

"Murderer!"

That got a full on laugh, and he pulled the trigger again at the clown who'd called him out on something so funny, given they frenzied under the Legion flag.

"Profligate!" Another one with a machete lunged at him, and steel glinted in the sunlight.

Benny couldn't take them all, but he took this one. Gunshot in the hand, and he watched with no small satisfaction that the machete clattered to the rocks below, and the soldier bellowed in pain.

A gunshot fired off from beside him, and he didn't need to look. He hadn't been shot, so it clearly wasn't another Legion soldier looking to make him bite the dust, literally and figuratively. That, or their aim was piss poor.

"It figures, I wake up and you went and shot some people in the head. That’s your modus operandi, isn’t it?"

"Can you really call these chumps 'people'?" He replied, and moved himself behind a rock, makeshift cover from bullets that finally did come into play from the other side. He didn’t have to return anything about that last remark.

"Everyone's a person." But Courier seemed to not mind taking down a few more of them each time he rose up from beside Benny.

Some guys, they felt things blur by in a battle.

Not Benny. He focused, focused, made sure to let every detail whiz by, and grasp the most important ones. Use it to his advantage.

One tried to close the gap between them again, tried to get into melee distance and cut Courier down while Courier fired shots off at the longer ranged Legion members.

Benny could play melee in the best situations, sure. He maybe could have here. But he preferred to aim a bullet right through their ear, and watch it come out the other side.

Courier wasn't slow with the trigger finger either, though, and turned just in time to get a round off in the same soldier, right through the chest.

Before meeting the Courier, Benny might have laughed about it later, and said you couldn't kill a guy twice, so why'd they both tear off shots in the guy? But that might not be well received in present company.

Besides, there looked to be two Legion men left, and he had a lot more bullets than they had time left.

He refocused, and with the Courier, finished them off.

Courier sighed.

He almost didn't hear it, with all of the ringing in his ears. With all of the adrenaline that flooded his system in the end of it. But he watched their shoulders rise, and watched them let out that breath.

"Correct me if I'm lying, but this wasn't how you wanted to wake from that nap." He holstered Maria, and strode closer to the worn looking Courier. He offered a hand, to help them up from their position, slumped over now that battle seemed through.

"I love bullets being the last thing I hear before I wake up. It's better than the alternative." But they offered a shaky grin, and accepted the hand. Weak in grip, they took both hands and put them in Benny’s, and managed to pull themselves up with Benny’s help.

He chuckled at that, and nodded, "I can't argue with that. We should probably go put whoever's up there on the ridge outta their misery though. Unless it's Knight. Then, you know. We'll 'play nice' or whatever you like going on about."

"People?"

"Yeah. Heard them crying when I was walking. And don't look at me like that, I wasn't running away from you. I just was stretching."

"Let's go help."

Help. He rolled his eyes, though, only behind their back. "Hey, look at me, I live to please. Of course we'll help. And if it happens to be making them go easy, how's that a bad thing?"

"Mercy killings aren't. That's not. There are other ways." He all but scrambled up the side of the rocks, and stood up there at the top of it before Benny was even halfway there.

Any other time, Benny might call them an agile little show off. But he followed after, and stood beside them, silent. "Oh, it's just a Powder Ganger." He focused all his attention on the kneeling man, and considered their options silently. Sweat beaded, and pooled just above his brow, threatened to finally fall into his eyes. He wiped it away on the back of his hand, and shook his head.

Courier knelt down before the bound man, who groaned in pain and blinked up through bloody and reddened eyes. Ever the do-gooder, the Courier set about working on the binds.

"Hey, whoa, hey, easy there Pally. Let's think before we act." Fingers twitched, ready to pull Maria out, if necessary. Play nice probably wasn't just a Knight thing, as far as the Courier was concerned. No need to end their partnership earlier than planned because Benny didn't like taking chances.

"What?" Less a question, more a demand for explanation. Courier glared over his shoulder at Benny, though held his hand on the rope and didn't continue.

"That's a Powder Ganger? You know, guys who blow anyone who comes their way up? You wanna free him without so much as a hello?"

Courier looked the gang member in question in the eyes. "Are you going to fight us?"

"No, Hell no. Please, just... they were going to crucify me."

Courier nodded, a bit grim in his expression, and went back to undoing the binds.

"At least, let's get something outta this, right?"

"Anything you want, man. If I can't get it for you, Eddie can. I swear!" He looked to his left, and shut his eyes.

Benny followed that glance, and sighed. Well, he could see why the guy was freaked out, aside from the fact that there'd been a gunfight around him, he was bound, and he'd been about to be crucified. "Shit. No one deserves that. Still better than crucifixion."

Mutilation. Savage. Unbearable to look at for any length of time. This was the sick shit that Fiends did, but apparently it wasn't limited to them.

"He. He was alive for most of that. They finally slit his throat when the screaming got too loud and the Legion guy said he had a headache." The guy shook a little, like he couldn't quite focus on his breathing, and his body didn't know what to do.

Benny had seen shit as a Boot Rider. Hell, they'd done shit. Lots of things were acceptable in this big bad world. But there were some things that he and his boys had always seemed to agree on. Sadism like this? A big home run of a no. Waaaay outta the park into things that none of them were supposed to do. It wasn't just discouraged, it was outright punished.

So he didn't see Legion or Powder Gangers as people, much. Fiends neither. That didn't mean he'd treat them worse than the animals he ate.

Still. They'd saved this guy. He owed them. He'd even said it. Anything. "Hey, Pal. Yeah, you."

They sniffed and looked right up into his face, an earnest expression there, despite being a seemingly hardened criminal before all this.

"Did you see or hear about any single NCR soldier guy going through here? Maybe Legion scouts spotted him coming or going?"

A blink, and then a dim nod. "Yeah. Some NCR guy, they held him here for a while with... with the dog headed hat guy. He was so freaky, man. His voice it..."

Courier finished untying them, and stood up carefully. He took a step back, and almost faltered and fell sideways.

Benny caught him, and was thankful that the criminal seemed so focused on being free that he didn't seem to notice the Courier's movements were so unsteady. Benny just held onto the Courier, and continued. "What about this guy they were holding?"

"I don't know. He was unconscious most of it. Dog guy said they'd need to, I don't know. Go somewhere more secure. Something about... uh. Shit, I didn't hear it all."

"What. Did. You. Hear?" He was a patient guy. Really. He was, just ask Yes Man, who knew how damn long he'd been setting up this play.

"Look, I don't know. Just, probably they needed to take him to some other guy. Lucy? Luc... ifer? Lucius? Yeah! Have that guy ask why he had some weird chip or something. It wasn't like they shouted all their plans, ok? I can't help what I couldn't hear."

Courier squeezed his hip and glared up. "Come on. He doesn't know."

"Do you know where they headed? A direction, a name?"

"Some Cove, and after that, they were headed East, I think."

"Shit." For a moment, he thought maybe he was hearing double. But no, Courier had said it at the exact same time. Shit indeed.

"Please. Can I go?"

"Yeah. Just. Don't tell anyone you saw us, ok? Not a word. You want to tell people you got free yourself, go right ahead. Maybe earn some badass points with your friends. I hear about a guy in a checked suit freeing some scumbag hostage, or this guy here doing it," he lightly nudged Courier, "and I'll kill you next."

A nod, and they ran.

Courier sighed, again. "Benny."

"What?"

"Was it necessary threatening him?"

"You want the Legion to know we're coming?"

"Well. No. But it's not like we're headed there immediately, is it?"

"How long do you think it'll be before they figure out what that chip does? And with how there's a nice sweet spot in that bunker that the chip can fit all comfy cozy in, it wouldn't be long before they won this shit war. Say goodbye to New Vegas, say goodbye to the NCR. Say goodbye to your freedom, maybe even your life."

"Alright, I get it."

"See to it that you do. Now." He released them, and stepped towards one of the fallen Legion soldiers, who'd taken their last breath right on the edge of the ridge, "Let's see if any of these are in our sizes. I'm a bit broad in the shoulders, but I'm hoping one will do the trick."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Herein lies the sex. And plot. But mostly sex. It had to happen eventually, right?
> 
> (I originally started this entire series, just wanting to eventually get Courier and Benny together in a pwp. I'm terrible at pwp. No matter how contrived, I always need some plot in my stories. It's a gift and a curse.)

"I just think it's a stupid plan."

"Yeah? And who's the one who went and pulled all these strings together in the first place to be strummed?"

They glared over at him, from their spot on the ground. Courier carefully lifted hands up, laced them together at the fingers, and lay them under his neck. "Whatever. We'll be killed. There's not enough Stealth-Boys in the world to cross that river without being seen."

"We could do it, though. We kind of don't have a choice." No, no, he was saying it all wrong. Like a loser who was in debt and hoped that they could get just one more score to pay off the sharks that circled in bloody waters. He coughed, and rolled over onto his side, looked them more directly on. "Maybe I should do it alone, though."

"No."

"If you can't keep quiet on the ride over, then what, huh Kid? But me? I'm used to being in the spotlight, sure. But for all those years as a Boot Rider, I was used to being in the shadows. I could make it over just fine. At least, with your Stealth-Boys and mine combined."

"You only want me for my tools, is that it?" They sighed, but there was a glimmer of a grin there.

He put a hand on their chest, pressed in just a bit. "Well, now that you mention it."

"Is that all you think about?"

"Obviously it ain't. But I can't seem to help myself. Besides. We could die, if you're in for a cap in for a chip."

Eyes looked right up into his, and that pretty little head let lips part in such an appealing way.

"You know, give me a choice, and I'd usually pick a dame. But apparently lately all this stress has me exploring other options."

"Oh, what guy doesn't love to hear that before they maybe go to bed with someone." Their voice carried on a bit of a pant though, and they turned to face him a bit more head-on.

"It means you're special."

"Uh huh." They carefully scooted forward with a few hip wiggles, until they were right up next to him, nestled beside him under the expanse of the starry sky. "If I'm the Courier, how come you're the one that has a package for me?"

He snorted, and shook his head, "That's all kinds of wrong when you think about our first meeting. But I'd rather think that tonight is beautiful, and so are you."

"Wow. And you know, I had a nice pretty doctor, all ready to take me up to Jacobstown. Smart, funny, sarcastic. And I got stuck with you. The opposite." 

"Ouch, Baby. I shot you in the head, but that don't make it right shooting me in the heart."

"You can complain when I shoot you twice." But there they were, so close, body nearly pressed firm to Benny's.

"Are we gonna c'est la vie, Baby?"

The chuckle was fucking endearing, with the way a little snort interrupted the laugh, and they tried to hide it with a hand over their mouth. Lips hidden behind a cupped set of fingers, the Courier finally responded, "That's not even how... That doesn't make sense."

"No, I think what doesn't make sense is us denying our feelings? I could--"

Hello! He wrapped hands about their shoulders, thumbed at the leather of their armor, and opened his mouth more fully than just his words had, to let them explore. And damn, but they were a real adventurous sort with that tongue. Twisting, jabbing, poking about like he was a prospector in a newly opened Vault. Not that Benny minded. Someone else being the driving force in a kiss was nice sometimes. It let him take a moment to just enjoy the sensations.

Moment over, he carefully positioned himself a bit, then swung a leg, and rolled them both over. Pinning the Courier, he broke the kiss for a moment. "See? C'est la via your mouth."

They snapped that mouth open, ready to retort.

He snapped his lips down on theirs, and pressed a deep kiss. Hands moved from behind their shoulders, up along their neck, until he gently thumbed his way along their scalp. He elicited those soft moans he liked so much with just about every swipe of his tongue, and every touch of his fingerpads. It was electric.

Their hands found their way up into Benny's hair, and he all but crooned against their lips when they rubbed him so nicely. 

Sure, sure, he loved his hair all nice and perfect, but he couldn't say no to a bit of fingertip TLC on the scalp every now and again. 

They spread thin legs under him, and lifted their knees up a bit, so thighs pressed against Benny's hips.

A moment later, those hands on his scalp ran their way down, played along the lines of his back, until they ended up at the vents on his suit, and cupped his ass.

That was one way to take this. He pulled away a bit and waggled his brows. "Can't get enough of the Ben-man, can ya, Baby?"

"Call yourself the Ben-man again, and I'm out."

An eye roll, but acquiescence. "Fine, fine. But admit it. You're lovin' playing with my merchandise, aren't you?"

"I admit nothing." They lifted their head just enough to nip at his neck. 

"But, you break it you buy it, Kid." He ground his bigger form down over them, and winked.

They grunted, and squeezed his ass a bit harder in response. "I could afford it, especially if it means I can break it."

He had to admit, there was a bit of a thrill in the way they said that. Benny rolled his hips again, and pressed his lips up against the coil of their ear. "How about a test run first?"

"If it'll keep you from running your mouth anymore." They held him so tight, despite being pinned by Benny's body weight. "Come on. Show me what you know."

"More like, at this point, what don't I know?" He peeled himself away from them, to get a real nice look at them in the moonlight. "Watch and learn, Baby."

A lot of people, they were a bit of clay in his hands. They wanted to be there, because he was hot, powerful, and could show them a good time. 

This guy? He didn't seem to take Benny too seriously. Didn't seem to give a single fig about who Benny thought he was. 

That was a bit intoxicating. And while he could go for a nice hit of booze, drinking them in was good enough. Especially if it meant he got to kiss every inch of them, and bite it too. Bit by bit, their armor came off in thick portions, and bit by bit, the Courier stripped him too.

Naked, for all the world to see if they only knew where to look, Benny splayed out beside the Courier. "You're something else. Month ago, I'd say you'd have to have a real scrambled egg to bed someone who tried to put you in an early grave. Or, at least, you'd have to be running an angle."

Courier flipped on over top of him, and grinned down. "I do though. Have a scrambled egg."

"Yeah." And there wasn't any of that residual fight, that resentment, that normally came with their references to the past. He stroked along their spine, and pushed a kiss to their forehead. "Now, let's see what that clever mouth of yours can do, hey?"

"I think I'd rather see what yours can do, all things considered." They didn't crawl up him, so much as go from point A to point B, A being between his legs, B being with cock against Benny's mouth.

It was a bit like a magic trick, an illusion. Benny wasn't sure how they'd managed it while he was watching so intently, but he wouldn't make a magician spill their tricks. Instead, he just chuckled, accepted it, and opened his own mouth to take them in. He'd get them to spill something else.

Nice taste, nicer than some were at least. Nothing sweet about it, in reality, but he could almost trick himself into thinking it when he looked right up into those starry eyes. He gave a bit of a moan, and worked his head a bit further along the tool in his mouth.

Something they'd been holding onto, the entire time, seemed to drop. A certain almost imperceptible defensiveness melted out, and the Courier let out a quiet whimper, and thrust loosely against his face. "F-fuck."

He might chastise them later. Maybe play a bit of slap and tickle, with a focus on the slaps over the tickles. But they'd like it, he imagined. He tested that with a little slap on their bottom.

They groaned and thrust deeper.

Benny focused with renewed energy on their length. He reached one hand up, to cup along those swollen sacks that slapped at his chin, while the other helped provide the illusion he actually took the whole thing into his throat. He was good with his mouth, sure, but the hand helped too.

Courier got a bit more erratic in their thrusts, a bit more unsteady.

Uh uh. Benny put the kibosh on that with both hands quickly at those thrusting hips, stilling them. He carefully removed his mouth, and turned his head away a bit so they didn't get any bright ideas. "You're not trying to end it quicklike, right?"

"N-no."

"Well, how's about you give me a bit of attention." Less a question, but certainly it stopped short of a demand.

They arched a brow, like they planned to turn it down anyway. 

Benny held still.

Then they shifted, shrugged their shoulders, and turned themselves right around like the blades of a vertibird, and pressed their lips to the tip of Benny's cock. They looked under their shoulder, right at Benny. "Like this?"

Well, this still had their cock in his face, so it wasn't quite what he expected. Still, he had enjoyed his time with Pace this way. He nodded, and turned just enough to accept them back into his mouth.

It was a lot of push and pull. Each of them vied for control, and hey, who could resist the challenge in being with someone who thought they deserved to be on top too? 

For every moan he ground out of their throats, they got at least one for him. He wasn't keeping track of it or anything, but that ratio was one that tugged at his mind anyway. He tried to keep his cool, to just work them over and make them just a panting, sweating, sucking mess in his hands, but they just kept returning the favor.

He wasn't one who shied away from playing a bit crooked. He prodded a finger right at their entrance, and worked it carefully in.

That got the reactions he craved. They thrust harder, moaned louder, and seemed to tense up nice and sweet. Hips were erratic again, jerking and slamming and trying to take Benny's mouth for all it was worth.

Which was a lot, thank god. He almost gagged at a few of those rough hip hits against his lips, but he took it. Like a champ, he figured, but he was a champ at everything he did so it was really to be assumed.

Soon enough, he felt that salty sticky, it coated his throat and demanded that he swallow. Or, rather, the hips that didn't pull back so he could spit it out, demanded that he swallow. Either way, he did as silently bid. Never let it be said Benny didn't take the cards dealt to him on occasion without marking the deck.

They pulled their hips back just enough to slide out, and began to adjust themselves to just fully work at his cock.

"Easy there. How about you stay right where you are." Not a question. He held those hips so they were still nice and present against his chest. "Let Ben-m-- Let me take care of you." 

They moved just enough to look at him with a dubious expression, one that tugged brows up unevenly, and lips curled just on the one side. "Really? How selfless."

"That's me, Baby! I'm just a lover savant! The guru of hey-hey!"

"And subtle and humble too. Just my luck." But they finally shifted those pretty lips into a smile, shrugged, and relaxed against him. "Still want me to suck?"

"Way I see it, why stop at something you're so damn good at?"

"My hands are on your dick you know. Might want to think about that before insulting me."

"Hey, wasn't an insult!" But he eased a saliva slick finger into them anyway, curled it all nice and gentle, just to appease. "I meant it in the nicest way possible. Honest."

"Mhmm." Though, their voice was a bit lower, and they didn't seem to mind whatever slight it was anymore. "Is that what you want then?" They asked it, just before dipping back down and kissing the tip of his curved cock.

"Baby, I just wanna make you feel like you've hit the jackpot."

They pulled off with a pop. "How lucky I am." 

"And if that happens to be what makes me feel like I've got a million platinum chips in my pocket, well."

"That's your angle then? You don't want me getting you off with my mouth, you--" 

Benny could imagine their eyes popped a bit at the touch. That they interrupted themselves because the sensation of a finger right there against the bodies god-given pleasure buzzer was too much to let them complete a sentence. 

"Oh, fuck. You play to win, don't you?"

"I've been trying to lay that out for you this whole time. Do you need your ears cleaned or something?" He pushed another finger right up against the first, and curled it in with the same insistence that they enjoy themselves.

They grunted, and all but fell with their cheek up against his cock. The way they kissed the side of his tool, laved their tongue along his cock, it wasn't quite a blowie, but he couldn't complain. Hell, it was downright decadent, yet it kept him from just shooting them on the head in another way.

He had to reward something as nice as that, so he poked another finger, his ring finger this time, up against their entrance. "Come on, open up. I got something nice for you."

They tensed for a moment, real tight against his fingers, before that body just settled in and seemed to relax wholly. 

Benny felt them stretch readily around all three fingers. He kissed at their thigh, and pushed his fingers as deep as that body would allow. "How's that, Baby?"

"Nice. But that's not the package I signed for."

Again with the package jokes. But he couldn't keep the smear of a grin off his face. Sometimes, it was a curse, being able to get it up to just about anything. He wriggled his fingers around a few more times, before he pulled them out and wiped them off on the Courier's inner thigh. "Then let's get to it. Want on my lap? Or on your hands and knees?"

"With options like that..." They rolled off him onto their back, and bent their legs at the knees, waiting for him to get in between and show him a good time.

"Ah, door number three, is that it? Fine, prize is behind them all, so who am I to complain?" He settled himself between their knees shortly enough, and lined himself right up to take his prize.

"F-fuck."

There was that little curse again. Naughty guy. Benny leaned in a bit and nipped at their bottom lip, that had hung open so encouraging. Easy, easy, he slid his cock in deeper until it left him with pelvis against ass. 

Those naughty fingers worked through his hair more insistently, mussed it up something nasty, no doubt. 

Benny didn't mind. Much. He bit a little harder, moved his teeth to bared throat and sucked, sure. But it was less punishment, and more him bestowing pleasure, if the way they rocked against him meant anything.

After a few seconds hilted, he began to pull back. 

It brought a heady exhale from them, and they lifted their legs up just enough to wrap about his waist. 

He stopped sucking at their throat for a moment, and nipped at the spot just beneath their ear. "Admit it. You've wanted this since you found me in bed."

"I'd never admit anything." But they forced him to return deeper with nothing more than a bit of pressure at his back.

He held still, tight inside of them. "Then I guess I won't move. Tough luck there, Sport."

They huffed, a sharp hot breath against his scalp. "Then I guess you won't get off. I already did."

"Damn. Beat me at my own game. Guess I better just take you how I want then, skip all the teasing."

"I didn't say--" 

Too late. He lifted their legs up easily enough over his shoulders, and began to quicken his thrusts. "C'mon, Baby. I know you like it anyway."

They grunted, and sealed their eyes shut. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just. Ah. H-hurry up."

"What kinda gentleman would I be if I rushed through our first time? Oh, like you I guess, seeing as how I can still taste your quick finish."

"S-shut up."

"Make me."

"Get down and kiss me, and I will." They tried to pull him in with their legs, but the angle was awkward, and they couldn't quite get him down.

He had mercy and did what they wanted. Besides, it wasn't him getting folded up like a napkin. If they wanted that, more power to them.

Seemed, they loved that. All turned over on themselves, knees to their chest, Courier moaned louder and seemed needier. Hands dug into shoulders, clawed at flesh. Felt, felt, felt.

Benny wanted to keep it going. Wanted to etch it right onto his memory, all of it. Some people felt sex in a blur, but him? It all went by so fast, and he caught up all the most important bits and used them to his advantage. To their advantage.

He panted into their collarbone, and worked his hips just that bit faster, just that bit more. Finished, he didn't pull out. Didn't extract himself from them. He just pat them, pet them, kissed them.

Maybe there was a bit of desperation in his eyes, he didn't know. It certainly moved in his blood, left him needy and wanting more than the night could have.

Benny finally pulled away. Rolled off, and let them both pant it out separately.

He heard them snore before long. Normally, that would be him. Snoring, and holding whatever broad had gotten his rocks off. Or, guy, as it was. But here, he felt a trickle of panic flood him.

The mutilated one had been the lucky one. The one he'd heard begging? They'd been the one who just wanted to die like their friend. Anything was better than crucifixion.

Benny wasn't a fool. They likely wouldn't both get out of there alive. He glanced to the bag, where Courier held all of his Stealth-Boys and other supplies.

He stood up. Careful, careful not to crunch any of the rocks under his bare feet. Clothing all strewn out around them, he put everything on in a slow, easy manner. All the while, they slept so peaceful beside him.

He reached into the bag.

Action packed mystery novels he'd found at one point in renovating the Tops had seemed to misunderstand how guns worked. You didn't need to cock the gun before pulling the trigger. That sound wasn't necessary, even if it did have a certain sense of drama. That noise was like an exclamation mark, before the hero shot the villains.

No, guns didn't often need to make that noise. They could just come out silent like, and offer their shouts through a bullet.

He saw the gun though, and that made for enough drama.

He put his hands up in the air, and shook his head, "Hey, easy, easy. I'm just getting a water."

Narrowed eyes maintained eye contact with him. The Courier sat up carefully. "I left the opened one by the rock." He tilted his head just enough in that direction. "I don't like you going through my bag."

"We get off together, and a gun pointed in my direction is my thanks? It was a simple mistake. Apologies, Baby. I won't do it again."

Slowly, the gun lowered. Slowly, the Courier let out an exhale. "Sorry. I. I guess I'm just twitchy."

"Well, easy does it, Kitten. Sorry I made you jump." He retrieved the water, then settled in next to them in the makeshift bedding on the rocky Mojave floor. "Want I should hold you, make you feel better?"

"Maybe just share some of that water. And don't walk off, again, while I'm sleeping."

He handed the water over after a sip, and nodded agreement. "Just you and me, Baby. I wouldn't leave you for the world."

They snuggled up next to him, and pushed them both down onto the worn sleeping bag. 

He pet through their hair, careful to avoid painful reminders for them both. "Tomorrow we're gonna need all our strength. Let's get some shut eye."

He didn't need to tell them. They already seemed to be asleep. Curled up against his arm, there was no way he could leave without waking them. Even he wasn't that good.

Benny eyed the bag and let out a breath he hadn't meant to hold. 

Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow you die.

Hell, at least he'd gotten the merry part right of the whole thing. Benny couldn't even shut his eyes, he just watched the stars and listened to the soft sleeping coos of his newfound partner.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry.

"It'll be fine."

"It'll take hours to get there." Courier made a fist, then stretched his fingers, and repeated the process several times.

It really was getting to Benny. Here he was, trying to calm and collected in his Legion armor, and they were having a panic. If he didn't need to smell like Legion (did they even allow those soldier boys to smoke?) he'd have lit up. Actually, he'd have lit up even with that, but he didn't have any smokes left.

"Maybe I shouldn't go."

"Scared?" He still felt that familiar tremble in his fingers. He tried to ignore it, but that was the thing about the shakes. They didn't just go away because you asked, and they especially didn't go away just because you tried to pretend they didn't exist. 

"No. But maybe you were right. I might pass out. I might give us both away. My head..."

Benny put a hand up. Stop. He didn't want to hear it. 

Satisfied they'd stop freaking out, he pressed the hand to their shoulder. He'd done it so many times since meeting him again at the Tops, that it seemed to calm them. He offered his most winning smile, and closed the gap between them with a single step. "Baby. If you've got a better way than us putting our prayers in some Stealth-Boys, I'm all ears. But if not, how about we roll the dice and let them land where they may?"

"I got a re-breather. It lets me breath underwater. Indefinitely."

"Well now. That. That is something. Baby, how come you didn't say anything?"

"I didn't think of it until this morning. When uh, you know."

Coy. Cute. He grinned at the memory. "Right, right. Guess I should've let you come up for air, huh?" He slapped that same shoulder, and chuckled. "So what're you figurin'?"

"I stay under the boat. That way, as long as I hold on, I can hurt as bad as I want, it won't stop me from going with. Then you just wait for me on shore, tell me when I can come up, and we can both go in together."

"Smart and tough. I like that. So what kinda signal are you looking for? I know it ain't gonna be something like me shouting olly olly oxenfree."

That got them matching his smile, and they shrugged. "Maybe just toss a rock into the water?"

"Sure. Sure. Here, I'll make sure to toss this one here in." He released their shoulder, crouched down, and lifted up a nice sized rock. Into his leather side pouch it went, over the healing powder the prior owner had kept there. Damn Legion and their low-tech healing. Now, a backpack like the NCR had and a couple dozen Stimpaks, and they'd be in business. "So, does that mean you're giving me your Stealth-Boys?"

"I guess it does." They didn't seem positive.

Then again, every single minute coming up towards their infiltration on Cottonwood Cove, they'd been more neurotic than Benny when he'd tried giving up smokes, scotch, and sex all in the same month. He almost made it, but then again, he'd also almost killed two gamblers in the main hall, so really. A saint, he was not, even if he wielded Maria.

Benny wasn't positive either. And if he couldn't have his smokes, he'd at least do one thing that always calmed him. He pulled out a little pocket mirror from a pocket, and began to press tendrils of hair into place.

"What're you doing?"

"Huh? Just fixing the mess you made of my hair."

"I did that on purpose."

"And I'm undoing it on purpose."

"Do you really want to look like a Legion soldier, or?"

He paused, glanced at his hair one last time, gave a long, drawn out sigh, and mussed it up again. "There. Happy? I look like every other reject that wears this armor now."

"Better than looking like every guy who gets crucified."

Well shit. He couldn't argue with that, vanity be damned. He put the mirror back into his little bag, and looked over. "Here, let me help you."

They swat at his hands and stepped back. "No, no, I did it myself."

"No, but I see a spot." He snickered, and let them escape him with a bit of fancy backwards footwork. "Alright, fine. So, where'd you get that nice little gadget you mentioned? Don't tell me it comes with the Pip-Boy. The things science comes up with." He gave a low whistle, and glanced at the metal affixed to their arm.

"No. It was from the Boomers. They made it for me." They squirmed in place, and fiddled with a bit of metal that hung down over their knees. "We had a blast." He looked up, mischief in his eyes at the joke.

"The... Baby, you aren't trying to lay it out that you and the Boomers are tight?" He wouldn't admit he laughed a bit inwardly at that. Benny wasn't an enabler, usually.

"Well, after they ended up not killing me like they tried, we ended up getting along just fine."

"Heh. There's a lot of forgiveness in that body a yours. Other things too. I like it."

They offered a grin. Their hesitance seemed to melt off of them in the evening sun. 

Thanking the stars, he caught them up in another embrace, and pointed towards the next step in their future. Cottonwood Cove. "It's gonna be fine. We go in, I go stealthy, you go breathy, we make it across to the bunker, and we get the chip, put it in its place, and get out. Hopefully, with hundreds of robots making it an easy thing."

"We'll save Knight, too. And any slaves we find."

Oh no, Baby no. "Sure thing, Buttercup. Anyone we can. So long as we have the robots we need, what's to stop us from taking them all away from here?"

A nod.

Did the Courier really think they'd get a storybook ending? 

Maybe they would. But not all stories ended with a nice perfect bow, all wrapped up on every loose end. 

Courier pulled from the grip and strode forward towards the water. His steps had impact, confidence. 

Benny liked the look. Who knew if the guy had always been the sort he was today, but who he was now, Benny enjoyed. He liked it a bit more when they didn't flounder at certain decisions, but he could appreciate it when they took charge.

He followed after.

When he was young and dumb and more innocent than anyone but those closest to him could believe, much less remember, he'd liked to play hide and seek. Out there in the Wastes, he'd be the one who hid, while everyone else scrambled and looked to find him. He'd been damn good at it, too. You wouldn't look at him and think, hey, patient. He wasn't in a lot of things. But he loved winning, and when he hid, no one ever found him. They all always had to call out, let him know they were about to stop looking. They had to say he'd won.

Benny was called something else then. Something he didn't care to think about. The past was the past for a reason. But he enjoyed to think about how he'd always crawl out of some bizarre spot. Beneath the root of an old tree, out from under the hood of a long since looted car, through a second story window of a boarded up building. 

Hide and seek as an adult did not give him that same thrill. He stood still, and prayed that the Stealth-Boys would hold the barrier. That no one would look too closely at the corner of the squared off barge. He held his breathing careful, and his posture crouched low. 

Hours, he listened to them talk. Laugh. Yell, occasionally.

These bastards, Legion nothings.

One talked about their sister, and how she had found a good Master back East, or so he'd heard. A good man, who was the only one to own her. He was happy about that. Others congratulated him, wished that she'd bear excellent sons.

It was backwards. Forwards. Upside down. And Benny couldn't not listen, he had to hold onto every word in case one pointed out the unnatural shimmer in a place that wasn't strictly water.

Another told jokes. Constantly. Half of them seemed to be in Latin, which Benny sadly didn't know square one about, but enough were in plain old regular English that Benny had to hold his breath during those. The guy was a fucking joke, in the best way possible.

Were these other times, he'd have pat that guy on the shoulder, and slid one of Tommy's cards into their jacket pocket. Not that these were other times. 

He had to hold his breath every time he heard the guy about to wind up for another joking pitch. If he didn't, he'd burst, laughing like the rest of them.

One was afraid. He didn't say it. He just rubbed at his arm, and looked to the stars like maybe they'd give him some answers.

The rest, they didn't seem to pay him any mind, but Benny saw. Saw the apprehension, as sure as he'd seen it in the Courier's face.

These were just men. Just men.

He didn't like that. It was a lot easier to shoot someone down when you didn't have to consider they had lives, and families, and maybe even dreams. Ideas.

He turned his attention to the water, and how the moonlight bounced off the ripples.

Benny didn't even know Courier's name. Even still, he hoped they were fine there, clinging to the rope they'd tied to themselves and the underside of the barge. He hoped they really did have a rebreather, not just a backwards attempt by the Boomers at technology that maybe didn't work in the first place.

He was glad the Courier had tried it though. Better them, than him. He'd go for a little over a half-dozen Stealth-Boys any day. Splitting them, he'd have worried endlessly. More even, than he already did, crouched in the corner with the biggest leg cramp known to man and shimmering like the water that surrounded them all.

He was a patient man in some things, like winning. A bit of dull agony in his legs was a small price to pay in exchange for what amounted to the key to the city of New Vegas. So he waited. Through their jokes, their friendly insults, their small talk about life, he waited.

When the barge made it to the shore, he waited a minute longer after they'd all departed, before he tossed the rock into the water, and made it onto land himself. One arm stretched carefully, and reached out to take their hand when it breached the surface.

Courier took the small towel Benny handed over, and used it to quickly dry himself off. Careful, he stretched a bit, before he nodded.

"Ready?" A whisper, so low he barely heard it himself.

"Yeah." Courier ran a hand through their own hair, disheveled it a bit more.

Stealth for him, and a bold face and walk for the Courier. It felt a bit reversed, but Benny hadn't complained when Courier had suggested it. 

Up that slope they continued, and soon they caught up with the soldiers who carried ever onwards towards the Fort itself.

There were slaves who went about their business. They boiled water, carried water, did bits of laundry, chopped up food. Everything that normal people did, in their normal ways. The only thing that set them apart was the little bit of metal around their neck, and how they kept their eyes focused downward.

He could see why Courier wanted to take time away from their escape to save these slaves. It wasn't happening, but he could see how that thought had formed. Innocent and naive, though it was.

How did someone with such a big goddamn heart even get wrapped up in it all?

Oh. Right. Two bullets and a hastily dug grave.

Benny kept his expression as stoic as the soldiers who lead the way. 

The men ahead of him dispersed as they made their individual ways to places within the Fort. But Benny maintained, followed after the Courier.

This was it, wasn't it? He kept himself no further than a few steps behind them. 

At least the Courier walked with that same look of belonging that Benny hoped he would have, were their positions switched. 

There was a subdued scream, then a softer cry of , "I'm... so sorry," somewhere in the distance. Not too far away it didn't register, but not so close it sent the heebie jeebies running through his body. All in all, he couldn't help but want to get as far away from that sound and the source of it as possible.

So, of course, Courier all but walked directly up towards the tents that housed the source of the screams.

Benny did his damnedest to subtly get them to change course, but what could he do? Uncloak and give them a stern lecture? Trip them? Shoot them himself, for being such an idiot? Tempting, really tempting, but he went with the best option. Follow at a distance and see just how bad that egg had really cracked, for them to think directly engaging was a good idea.

In through a flap the Courier went. Benny followed, ever crouching, ever regretting his decision to do this. 

Hell, by how badly his legs cramped at this point, he regretted so far back that he almost wished he'd never became a Chairman, and had stayed a nomad. Sure, access to regular food, dames, and clean water all sounded nice, but when you were surrounded by something that could make you regret your entire existence, it became a bit less appealing.

Still, he followed. He'd see it through.

"Caesar requests your presence in his tent." Said with the firm manner of speaking that someone who was meant to be in a spot would have.

Someone slightly familiar in the face glanced over. "Excuse me? I'd ask if you were born in a land of savages, but I know the answer. Still, I thought the Legion taught better than barging into the tent of your superiors."

"Apologies. He told me to waste no time." They shuddered a bit, as thought slightly out of breath. "I will take whatever punishment you see fit, but perhaps after you talk to him?"

Benny swore he'd seen them before, but couldn't quite place the face to a name. Though he concentrated on them at first, his gaze soon locked just beside them.

King. Major Knight. Whoever they called themselves, they knelt before the Legion soldier, head downcast. Bloody marks rode a jagged line across their back and shoulders. They didn't look up. Didn't turn even the barest amount to face those inside.

Had Courier heard that scream and known? Even just a few words, and he'd gone right to it, as though he understood even through the pain, who it was.

Or was it all luck? Fortune favoring the bold and all that.

Whoever the soldier was, they sighed finally. Malice seemed to evaporate on that sigh, and they shook their head. "It wouldn't do to keep My Lord waiting. Tell me, did he seem... displeased?"

Courier stood firmer, widened his stance a bit. "No. He just said he wanted you immediately."

"Ah. Well, thank you. You may go." Dismissal granted at the wave of a wrist, they then turned towards Knight, knelt down, and cupped a hand around his chin. "You, however, I have not finished with. I do not take your misbehavior lightly."

Knight nodded, and set his shoulders back.

Courier had already left the tent, as bid, by the time Benny looked away from the scene. There'd be no leaving, until whoever this sadist was left.

They eyed the tent flap, and sighed. "I do wish I wouldn't be interrupted just as I'm teaching you. It doesn't set a good precedent. But My Lord..." Whatever else was said was too quiet, as they reaffixed their clothing, placed the fur of a dog's head upon theirs, and left.

Oh. He knew exactly who this guy was. And if he hadn't been chilled on the ride over, surrounded by those who could make his life extremely unpleasant, he felt that shiver now.

Knight remained kneeling. They inhaled softly, and seemed to focus on the distance.

Benny stepped carefully closer. "Knight."

A blink, recognition. At the very least, that someone was talking to him. He tilted his head ever so slightly, and squinted in Benny's direction. A whisper to match Benny's came forth. "Who is it?"

"Me. Benny. We're here to get you out."

It was easy reading faces like Knights. Shock. Confusion. Joy. Fear. In that order, odd enough. "You can't. I'm--"

"Look. You know that thing about a gift horse and it's mouth? Yeah. Don't look in this ones."

"Is it... just you then?"

"No. I've got a friend in with me." Benny moved to take off their binds. Any other time, he'd untie the rope. That was a useful thing to have, and a terrible thing to waste. But here, now? He pulled out his pocketknife and cut through it, careful to keep from slicing through skin and getting blood everywhere.

In walked the Courier, a bit more crouched than before. "Good. We don't have a lot of time. Knight, do you know where the chip is?"

"The chip? How do you--"

"Just answer, please." And he wouldn't have tacked on that extraneous bit of polite, had Courier not shot him a look. He discarded the rope, and tossed it aside. 

"I believe Caesar has it. They know it's important. I just don't know how."

"That why they gave you the red on white stripes here? All you need now is a few blue bruises on the shoulders, and you'd look like an ancient America flag."

Knight didn't react for a second. When he did, it was like he was a computer terminal being rebooted for another shot to hack. "We need to leave now. If he comes back and--"

"Well, I don't know how to get this collar offa you, unfortunately, Baby." Benny reached forward, then stilled his hand at how Knight stiffened.

Knight blinked, once, twice, several times more. Then he stood, with knees that creaked, and reached up limply. "A Ranger taught me once. Andy."

"Are you sure you know--"

"Either I do, or I'm in a better place anyway." They seemed to hold their breath, just for a moment, before they let it out in a quiet little laugh. 

Well. At least they had one more person to add the man to manpower. Against hundreds and thousands of Legion soldiers.

It'd be fine.

"I'll get the chip, bring it back out, and we can all head down to the station, got it?"

Nods.

He kept thinking that moments he was going through were the most tense, the most frightening of his life. Barge ride over. Being in the tent of an absolute sadist who was actively torturing someone. Heading towards Caesar himself, ready to get into that tent and get the chip. It all hit at the top ten for his list, at least.

Definitely more frightening than the time he'd previously ranked as worst, when that broad had come back 9 months later, looking like she was about to have the baby right there on the Strip. Of course, she'd introduced her husband a minute later, so at least that fear had been short lived.

It didn't matter though. The fear only fueled the adrenaline, which burned as it worked, sure, but it kept him going. At least, that's what he figured. He was damn exhausted, so something had to keep him going despite it all.

Almost on cue exactly, soldiers ran out of Caesar's tent. One followed at a slower pace, lips curled in barely contained rage.

Vulpes.

After a moment of panic, he carried right on through the tent flap, into Caesar's presence. No one seemed to notice him. No one shot at him, or even looked in his direction for more than the time it took to send their gaze from one spot to another, with him somewhere in between.

Slow, careful, he made his way over to the big bad man himself.

"I don't care who they are. I want them found! I--" Caesar grunted, and clutched at his skull. "Vulpes waking me up... Anyone else, I'd have them killed." His eyes fluttered in that familiar way.

They looked older, sure, and their face was different. But that expression, the way their eyes moved? Looked exactly like the Courier, with all his brain problems.

"Leave, Lucius. Tell me in the morning when you've caught whoever it was." They kept one hand tight to their eyes, while the other waved weakly. "Go!"

"As you wish, My Lord."

It was really perfect timing. Just him, and the worst man to come face to face with. But the best man to sneak up to. 

He pulled out his knife, one that had just freed Knight so readily. The weight of it seemed greater here. He wasn't the type to kill someone in their sleep, usually. But he couldn't help but feel that pull now. These were just radroaches with firepower and a false sense of superiority. It would be so easy to just... 

Rumors held that there was someone even worse than Caesar. More brutal, if that was to be believed.

Time waited for no one. He reached in, and slashed them right down the jugular. Wasn't pretty, but it was more than a little satisfying. And it was just about the only kill he wouldn't let that pretty face hiding somewhere outside make him feel bad for, even if they tried.

A quick search of their still warm corpse, and he found what he'd spent so much energy and caps on. He pocketed it, and headed back towards the front tent, out the flap. 

Time waited for no one. He didn't immediately see Courier and Knight, and he didn't wait around. Down the back ridge, and towards the place Yes-Man had indicated. Two men waited near the spot he needed to go, but it wasn't more than a shot could handle.

Or, he'd have thought that, if he didn't notice that they weren't really Legion.

He smirked, and stepped closer. "Coast clear inside?"

"Yep." Courier looked just above Benny, and smiled. "We almost got caught up by the tent. Took you long enough."

"Had to put Caesar to sleep. He wasn't feeling well."

Knight stiffened. "You killed him?"

"Problem?"

"If they... Whatever you need to do inside, you better hurry."

"Relax, Baby." But he took that under advisement he planned to listen to. Benny stood now, finally able to stand tall when this area was just them. "After you." 

The inside wasn't what he expected. He'd fantasized about the moment more than he had about any lover, and still it didn't quite meet what he expected.

It was just a shitty looking shack that looked like the war had taken a hard toll on it. If he had hidden an army of robots to do whatever he wanted, he'd at least have made it more secure looking.

Looks were as deceptive as a smiling Omerta though, and he continued on through.

Knight said he'd stay by the entrance, guard it, while they did their business.

And then there were two. Together, they used the platinum chip in the console, and continued on until they reached the spot Yes-Man had told Benny to search for.

Mr. House showed up on the screen.

"Ah. And here I had expected to see you at the Lucky 38 for our first meeting."

Benny stood still, watched that face flicker on the massive screen.

"Don't be shy. You're the one I was looking forward to meeting."

He let out a quiet breath, and looked to the Courier.

"I'd hoped you'd listen to Victor, but you seemed so focused on," a beat, and an expression of distaste flooded the computer face Benny was so familiar with, "finding the one who tried to kill you. Was it worth it? I understand he's fled the Tops, and made things that much more difficult."

Benny clutched the knife, and watched Courier's face. He looked for any flicker of deception, or anything really. But they seemed frozen.

Courier blinked, then stepped closer. "You are?"

"The one you were meant to deliver the chip to, of course. I had thought you smarter than to need to ask that. I suppose those bullets caused as much damage as my sources informed me though. No matter. You're here, and you have the chip, yes?"

Benny crept over, and slipped it into their pouch.

Slowly, the Courier reached in, and pulled it out, showing it off to the monitor.

"Ah, excellent. I knew Victor made the right decision in pulling you out of that grave. Don't worry. You're a cut above the rest, and when this is all through, I'll ensure that your head is put back into fully working order. I understand you've been having difficulty with it, but that's nothing a bit of science can't fix."

"Really?"

"Of course. I've been around for longer than any but ghouls can even comprehend. If I can maintain myself, why wouldn't I be able to help you maintain yourself?"

"I had planned to go to Jacobstown for that."

"Please. What backwards technology could you possibly find up in that ramshackle ski resort?"

"I don't know."

Benny tapped them on the wrist.

Courier coughed, and held up the chip in the other hand, higher. "What do I do with this?"

"Place it just ahead, where you can see it might go. You've come this far, so I don't imagine it'll be difficult going ahead. A word of caution, though. There are a great deal number of securitrons and turrets that I have no control of here. They will almost certainly take your presence as something threatening."

"So you just want me to deal with them?"

"Yes. In a manner of speaking. I want you to take the chip, continue on through the bunker, and when you get to another spot that can take the chip, you will place the chip once more and allow me to do the upgrades. Do you understand?"

"I think so."

"Good. If you need that repeated, well, I should hope that you won't. I've waited more than long enough for this, I shouldn't like to be kept waiting longer. Though, I suppose in your case, if you don't fully comprehend what I'm saying..."

They huffed. "I do. Just, put the chip in, right? Like up there?" He waved at the stairs he'd come down.

"Right. Now. Go. 'Take care' of things." The screen flashed, and then went blank.

"Wow."

Benny put a finger to their lips, tried to make sure they didn't speak to or of him while House could still be listening. If he had no control further on, that was great. But for now, he had a 'House edge' so to speak, and he wanted to keep it.

They sighed, nodded, and continued on through the dark, radiated place.

Forward, into the darkness, they moved. When the doors shut behind them, and Benny felt they were sufficiently away from any microphones, he spoke. "Now do you get why I peeled myself away from the guy? That's just a taste. He talks to everyone worse than that. He's trying to butter you up."

"That's him buttering me up?"

"I'm telling you. You, me, Yes-Man. All we gotta do to make things go how we want, is you let me upload Yes-Man here first, and then put the chip in." He pulled out his own data stick, and looked them in the eyes.

Not that they could readily see him, given how they looked slightly to the left.

"What happens to the robots on the Strip?"

"Yes-Man happens. Him, in every robot. Mr. House won't have a single securitron on the main network that'll jump when he says jump. Even if they could jump, which I don't think they can."

Courier laughed a bit at that. "What do you think will happen to Mr. House?"

"Who cares? He'll rot in his prison of a casino?"

"He seems to know a lot. It's a shame he's going to die."

More than once his knife hand had twitched, ready to be used. But here, he actively had to put it away. "Relax. Maybe we can all work something out after this is through. But we have to get through first. So, less talking, more walking." And out came a single pulse grenade. It wouldn't be perfect, but it'd get them through an area with more robots than he cared to handle. Grenade in one hand, Maria in the other, he advanced just behind the Courier.

The guy was a good one. He was. Just, that heart of his seemed a bit too good for a nasty place like the desert. Or this world, in general, really.

Benny at least didn't have to crouch around anymore. No one but a bunch of robots with dusty servos to spot him, he didn't worry so much about if he was noticed. They'd be out soon enough anyway.

For someone so obviously soft, Courier proved himself more than capable once again in a gunfight. No Legion soldiers this time, he shot out the front screens of a few robots, and took aim at another, before Benny even had the grenade tossed.

He could appreciate a guy like this on his side. He wanted a guy like this on his side. It was the damned conscience that was killing him, really.

Benny wasn't a slouch either, though, and between the two of them it wasn't exactly easy, but he didn't sweat nearly as much as he had on the ride over to the Fort.

Courier seemed to walk with a bit of a limp though. "Hey, you alright, Babe?"

"Yeah just a bit sore." A bit burned at the ankles, looked more like.

"Maybe you should sit this out and I'll catch up with you on the way out."

"And miss this? If I might die, I want to see what this is all for."

In for a cap, in for a chip. Wasn't that just really the case he'd made before? Benny felt a twist in his gut, and continued on through the bunker. It was obviously just the radiation. A rad-x when this was through, and he'd be fine.

"Looks a bit like a Vault in here, doesn't it?" They dragged their leg a bit, and tried to keep a steady pace beside where Benny was. More or less.

"I think it might've been built by them. That, or this was just the hit style back in the day." He chuckled, and took a turn that Yes-Man had told him about. Doors were ignored on either side, at least by him.

"What's in here?"

"The army, Baby. Behind those locked doors, the future of New Vegas sits pretty."

They sped up their strides a little. Matched pace with Benny. 

It wasn't that the things in between the start of the bunker and the end were inconsequential. It was that, he could hardly wait until they got to the end. He didn't slow down, even for their limping. "Keep that chip ready, Baby. It's coming right up."

"Do you think Mr. House knows about you being here?"

"I don't think so. He'd have been a lot more... how shall I put this? Of a fucking dick. No, he didn't know I was here, and until I get that chip in, he won't. After that? Fuck him."

They slowed down. "I just wanted some caps you know. This whole courier job. I just wanted some spare caps so I could find a nice place to live, be set up decent."

"Baby, Baby. I know you're not having second thoughts. We use that chip how I say, the winner's way, and you, me, and anyone your little heart wants to help out will be set for life. Imagine that. You want the Followers sitting pretty and helping every wayward soul out? Bam. Thousands of caps a year, invested in making people better. You like efforts to keep the Fiends from taking over? We get rid of them, permanent like, as opposed to the tussles the NCR's been having with them. This is big stuff, Baby. You're not trying to back out now, are you?"

"No."

"Good." Benny was still a shimmer of light, but he could see Courier's expression just fine. Apprehension. Damn, anyone else would get a shot in the head. Benny couldn't bring himself to try that again, not the least reason being he didn't think they'd die that easy.

Benny stepped forward, and pulled them into an embrace. "You and me, Baby. I can give you the stars."

They bit at their bottom lip, worried the flesh until it swelled up a bit. 

He didn't breath. Didn't blink. He just watched them. 

Like near Nipton, they seemed a bit distant. Like there were far more things going on in that head than Benny could ever know.

Then they nodded, and pulled free of the touch. "Seeing Knight like that, I just think it threw me. Maybe he should have come in with us?"

"You heard him. Standing guard is an important thing too."

"Yeah, that's true."

He didn't even really know this guy. A few days was nothing. He didn't even fully know Swank, and they'd known one another their entire lives. But the switch between sassy and sarcastic, and this, wasn't one he liked.

Benny wasn't the type to find discomfort when others were, but there were apparently exceptions.

It didn't matter though. He was in the terminal room. He had the data stick. All he had to do was put it in. There it was, just like he'd been told. A small little terminal, with a spot to upload the key to controlling New Vegas.

Benny didn't look at them, but he could feel their stare at his back. "Last call to try and leave, Baby. Wash your hands of all of this."

"I'm not leaving."

"That's good, because I wasn't letting you walk out alone." He grinned over at them, and pulled out the stick from the slot. "Hand over the chip, please."

Hesitance, before they pressed it into their hands. Fingers sealed over his own hand, and they stepped closer. "We're partners. Together, making New Vegas better." 

He knew he was still all but invisible, just a shimmer in the dark air. Yet, those eyes focused so intently on his. All those other times, the Courier had missed looking directly into his eyes, but this time they made their mark.

"You and me. The past is the past, but we're looking to the future."

Courier pressed a kiss to his lips, then pulled back, sans chip. "I'm going to go check on Knight."

"You gonna be alright limping along on that leg?" Quick as could be, he put the chip into its slot. Yes-Man had said it would take a while before it started to work, but they'd know when that happened. After that sign, it would be about twenty minutes before everything was fully operational.

"Shame on me for not bringing more than one Stimpak, honestly. These stupid suits of armor don't have much space."

"That they don't. And did you notice most of them went without underwear? Talk about backwards." A memory pulled to the surface, of a similar comment about Pacer's underwear affairs. It brought a grin to his face, and he turned back towards the terminal. One hand lifted and waved them off. "Go on, Baby. Maybe if you're lucky, Knight can help patch your leg up? I'd offer, but I never was one for playing doctor, except in the bedroom."

"Yet another reason maybe I should have brought Arcade with me..." 

He chuckled and shooed them away without even a glance back. "Go on, get out." But at least the Courier seemed to have found their nerve. It was a goddamn Primm rollar coaster, the way he went from confident to faltering. 

Yes-Man was right. He'd know exactly when it was done. Funny, Yes-Man hadn't said the noise would be like ten thousand hammers hitting metal, over and over, until it felt like his ears would pop.

Those details sure seemed like the kind he'd mention later, only to hear Yes-Man say that Benny hadn't asked, and Yes-Man hadn't known how it would affect human ears anyway.

For all the helpfulness of the damned robot, he was irritating sometimes.

Speaking of irritating, right there before the stairs, that familiar accommodating face smiled eternally outward at him. "Well, hey there! Gosh, you sure did manage to get all the way here, find the chip, and get me logged onto the systems! For a bit there, I was worried that I'd never get to see the inside of this room. Silly me, doubting you, even if it was your fault the chip was lost in the first place."

"Yeah yeah, enough of the gab. Any updates on the upgrades I should know about, before I hightail it outta here?"

"Oh, gosh, no doesn't look like it. Only that it should take me about fifteen more minutes to have full control over things. Though, my sensors did pick up signals that someone up above was in some sort of altercation. And I did see a man run by here before that. I'm sure you can find out what happened easier than I can as far as that goes, since I'm stuck to just knowing what I can see and hear from this monitor. Good luck though! Try not to die! I literally don't know what to do if I don't have someone giving me orders."

Kinda like a certain someone upstairs.

Benny turned, and ran. There was no one, when he made it back up to the weather monitoring station. No one but the bodies of Legion men who'd been put down by the Courier and Knight before. He stepped careful, and went against his body's wishes by crouching down once more. 

His job was done. And if the way that door hung open said things maybe hadn't gone according to plan for the two without Stealth-Boys helping out, well. Was that Benny's problem?

He stepped out into the darkness of the night, and carefully crept along the trail back up towards the tent.

"Murderers! Caesar lies dead because of you!"

He felt his heart do a less than pleasant jig at the accusation, before he realized it was called out from a distance. And no one had run after him. 

"Death to the profligates!"

"Crucifixion is too good for them!"

Benny thumbed over the barrel of his silenced gun. Maybe he could get a few shots off, save Knight and the Courier, who'd clearly been captured.

But if the Legion thought they'd been the ones to kill the great and powerful Caesar, then Benny was off the hook, and unlikely to be looked for.

It wouldn't take even a half-competent torturer a few minutes to figure out Benny was a third member in the group, though, if they even bothered to ask.

Benny made his way quickly towards where he'd come from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Caesar totally counts as a major character, ok? It's not a trick! It's fine, it's fine, everything is fine.
> 
> Benny is totally gonna be a good guy, right? Knight and Courier won't be crucified by this evil karma character, right?
> 
> ;_____;


End file.
